Wednesday, December 19, 2012

The man who has played guitar for Queen over the last four decades, Brian May, may be about to put his second vocation to use as the host of the BBC’s long-running program The Sky At Night.

The Sky At Night is a monthly astronomy show that has been hosted by Sir Patrick Moore since its inception in 1957 but following his death earlier this month at age 89 the BBC have been looking to fill his shoes.

“Both of them have a terrific gift for communication, which I must say I am quite jealous of,” Professor David Southwood, President of the Royal Astronomical Society told The Daily Mail. “Brian is an enthusiast for astronomy, exactly like Patrick. Patrick cared about the moon as much as black holes as much as life on Mars. He didn’t discriminate. The problem with professional astronomers is that all of us have our favourite bits but Patrick could talk about anything.”

“Brian has wide experience and would grow into the job if he was given a free hand. It has got to be a larger-than-life character but no one can ever match Patrick in that regard,” Dr. Richard Miles – former president of the British Astronomial Association also told the paper.

May, who has a PhD in astrophysics, left his studies after Queen found success in the 1970s but like anyone who gets a taste of science, it kept niggling at his brain until he returned to finish his work in 2007. He was awarded a doctorate from Imperial College London. His guitar playing is one of the most instantly recognizable sounds in music history.